Few anglers have achieved in their lifetimes what Stephanie Osgood Choate has done in the past several years. In July 2014 Choate won the Blue Marlin World Cup Championship – one of the biggest billfish tournaments in the world – with a 656-pound blue marlin caught off Kona, Hawaii.

Choate’s pursuit of heavy-tackle world records brought her to Cairns in October 2014, where she set the women’s 24 kg (50 pound) line class record for black marlin with a 504 kg (1111 pound, 1 oz) fish – breaking a record that had stood for nearly 30 years.

In addition to her tournament wins and historic record catch, Choate has released several grander bluefin tuna and black marlin.  In 2016, Choate completed her Billfish Royal Slam – capturing nine of the world’s billfish species in just over a year.